Give Carrots A Sweet Simple Glaze For The Most Effortless Side Dish

If you grew up eating frozen peas and carrots, you probably weren't a huge fan of these veggies once they were cooked. But as adults, we can dress up roasted carrots so they're tasty enough to enjoy while keeping our shopping list short and our time in the kitchen to a minimum. In fact, you probably already have both of the ingredients you need at home to make a tasty glaze for your veggies — butter and honey. 

It's hard to go wrong with these two, but they're an especially effective combination on roasted carrots. These veggies are already full of sweetness, so when you bring honey into the mix, you enhance that quality even more. Plus, roasting carrots as opposed to boiling or steaming them allows the vegetables to caramelize, which brings out their natural sugars. And while the use of butter needs no explanation, adding it to your glaze will give your recipe more flavor than if you included oil. 

But the best part? Mixing these two ingredients together is possibly the simplest glaze you could whip up for your carrots, and you hardly have to be a chef to do it.

To make this glaze, all you'll need to do is melt the butter on the stove, then add in the honey and stir until they meld together. Once the carrots are spread out on a baking sheet, pour the glaze over them and toss until they're evenly coated. If you want to avoid washing a sticky sauce off your baking sheet, line it with foil first. And that's really it — then they go in the oven to roast and you get a delectable side dish in about half an hour. 

While a honey butter glaze is the most deliciously simple ingredient combo, there are a few other directions you can take in this recipe. If you're not in the mood for honey but want something to draw out the carrots' sweetness in a similar way, feel free to substitute it for brown sugar, coconut sugar, maple syrup, or even agave. And while this two-ingredient glaze is the easiest way to make this sauce, you can add any ingredients you'd like for extra flavor including salt, pepper, minced garlic, onion powder, or fresh herbs.

For an acidic touch, finish your roasted carrots with a dash of lemon juice or a sprinkle of lemon zest that will take this dish to an even more flavorful level.